Multiple organ failure - death of consumer protection?

The enormously profitable complementary medicines, dietary supplements and traditional medicines markets are largely unregulated internationally and South Africa. Attempts to ensure that consumers are not exposed to harmful or ineffective products have met with varying success around the world

Human health risks due to consumption of chemically contaminated fishery products.

A small proportion of fishery products contaminated with appreciable amounts of potentially hazardous inorganic and organic contaminants from natural and environmental sources seem to pose the greatest potential for toxicity to consumers of fishery products in the United States. Health risks due to chemicals (e.g., modest changes in the overall risk of cancer, subtle deficits of neurological development in fetuses and children) are difficult to measure directly in people exposed to low levels. Immunocompetence may increase cancer risk. Inferences about the potential magnitude of these problems must be based on the levels of specific chemical present, observations of human populations and experimental animals exposed to relatively high doses, and theories about the likely mechanisms of action of specific intoxicants and the population distribution of sensitivity of human exposure. Lognormal distributions were found to provide good descriptions of the pattern of variation of contaminant concentrations among different species and geographic areas; this variability offers a solution for reduction of exposure through restricting harvest of aquatic animals from certain sites and by excluding certain species. Available information suggest that risks are not generally of high magnitude; nevertheless, their control will significantly improve public health.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS

Critical role for prokineticin 2 in CNS autoimmunity

Objective: To investigate the potential role of prokineticin 2 (PK2), a bioactive peptide involved in multiple biological functions including immune modulation, in CNS autoimmune demyelinating disease. Methods: We investigated the expression of PK2 in mice with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), the animal model of multiple sclerosis (MS), and in patients with relapsing-remitting MS. We evaluated the biological effects of PK2 on expression of EAE and on development of T-cell response against myelin by blocking PK2 in vivo with PK2 receptor antagonists. We treated with PK2 immune cells activated against myelin antigen to explore the immune-modulating effects of this peptide in vitro. Results: Pk2 messenger RNA was upregulated in spinal cord and lymph node cells (LNCs) of mice with EAE. PK2 protein was expressed in EAE inflammatory infiltrates and was increased in sera during EAE. In patients with relapsing-remitting MS, transcripts for PK2 were significantly increased in peripheral blood mononuclear cells compared with healthy controls, and PK2 serum concentrations were significantly higher. A PK2 receptor antagonist prevented or attenuated established EAE in chronic and relapsing-remitting models, reduced CNS inflammation and demyelination, and decreased the production of interferon (IFN)-γ and interleukin (IL)-17A cytokines in LNCs while increasing IL-10. PK2 in vitro increased IFN-γ and IL-17A and reduced IL-10 in splenocytes activated against myelin antigen. Conclusion: These data suggest that PK2 is a critical immune regulator in CNS autoimmune demyelination and may represent a new target for therapy

Evaluating Needs of Older Adults in Massachusetts Communities

Throughout Massachusetts, the ongoing demographic shift toward an older population has required most cities and towns to reevaluate the adequacy of services and programs for older adults. By 2030, the vast majority of municipalities in Massachusetts will have unprecedented proportions of people age 60 or over

Contribution of dendritic cells to stimulation of the murine syngeneic mixed leukocyte reaction.

We have studied the proliferative response of unprimed T cells to syngeneic dendritic cells (DC) (syngeneic mixed leukocyte rection [SMLR]) in cultures of mouse spleen and lymph node. T cells purified by passage over nylon wool contain few DC and exhibit little proliferative activity during several days of culture. Addition of small numbers of purified syngeneic DC induces substantial, dose-dependent, T cell-proliferative responses that peak at day 4-5. B cells purified on anti-Ig-coated plates do not respond to DC at all doses tested. DC cultures medium does not induce proliferation, and coculture of DC and T cells is required. Purified mouse B and T lymphocytes stimulate SMLR weakly if at all. Likewise, peritoneal and spleen macrophages are weak or inactive. Therefore, DC are potent and possibly unique primary cells for stimulating the SMLR in mice. sIg- spleen lymph node cells show extensive background proliferative responses in vitro, and fail to respond to small numbers of purified DC. If the sIg- cells are treated with anti-Ia and complement, or passed over nylon wool, DC are removed and proliferative activity falls. Proliferative activity is restored by adding back DC at levels similar to those present in sIg- cells (1-2%). Thus, DC-dependent, T cell proliferation probably occurs in all spleen and lymph node cultures. As expected from previous work (6), DC are also potent inducers of allogeneic MLR. On a per DC basis, the syngeneic response is 10 times weaker than the allogeneic MLR, and it is not accompanied by the development of cytotoxic lymphocytes. The magnitude of the SMLR was not altered by antigen priming, and DC maintained in isologous rather than fetal calf serum were active stimulators. Therefore, syngeneic stimulation appears to be an intrinsic property of DC, and modification by exogenous agents does not seem to be required. Coculture of DC and T cells results in the development of cell clusters that can be isolated and characterized directly. The clusters account for 10-20% of the viable cells in the culture, but contain \u3e80% of the responding T cells and stimulating DC by morphologic and surface-marker criteria. The efficient physical association of DC and responding T cells implies specific cell-cell recognition. We conclude that the SMLR reflects the ability of T cells, or some subpopulation of T cells, to interact with and proliferate in response to small numbers of DC

Assessing Current and Future Needs of Residents Aging in the Town of Andover

This report describes the collaborative efforts undertaken by the Town of Andover Division of Elder Services and the Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging, within the McCormack Graduate School at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Beginning in Fall 2014, these organizations joined to conduct a needs assessment to investigate the needs, interests, preferences and opinions of the Town’s older resident population, with respect to aging in Andover. The focus of this report is on two cohorts of Andover residents—those who are age 50 to 59 (referred to as “Boomers”) and the cohort of individuals who are currently age 60 and older (“Seniors”). Within the older cohort of Seniors, we also conducted selected analyses on subgroups (e.g., ages 60 to 79; 60 to 69; 70 to 79; and 80 and older) to highlight important differences by age group. During this assessment, several research methods were utilized in order to sketch a multidimensional image of the Town’s older residents that could be used to plan and implement current and future services for older residents in Andover. We began the process by examining public data from the U.S. Census Bureau to describe basic demographic characteristics, as well as economic characteristics, disability status, and living situations of older people in the Town. Early in the project we invited Town residents to attend a community forum, to better understand how residents perceive current and future aging-related needs of the Town. We used information gathered at this meeting to develop a survey instrument to be administered to a randomly selected sample of residents from both age cohorts. We conducted two focus groups to obtain feedback from various stakeholders who regularly interact with older residents, regarding issues and concerns about aging in Andover. We conducted interviews with four key stakeholders to acquire input from local experts on the implications of the aging population, and the functioning of the Center at Punchard. We produced three maps depicting town resources that are perceived as assets to aging in place in Andover by older adult residents. Finally, we conducted a comparison of Senior Centers in three towns that are similar to Andover to assess how needs of older adults are met in other nearby communities. Collectively, the content of this report is intended to inform the Andover Division of Elder Services and the Center at Punchard, along with other offices within the Town with a stake in the aging of Andover, and organizations that provide services to older residents, as well as those who advocate for older people, and community members at large

An antigen-independent contact mechanism as an early step in T cell-proliferative responses to dendritic cells.

The administration ofan antigen to the immune system can lead to the selection and expansion of clones precommitted to respond to that antigen. Antigens are not presented directly to T lymphocytes. Instead, antigens are processed and complexed to transmembrane products of genes in the MHC. The antigen-MHC complexes then are presented on the surface of APC (1-4). How might antigen-MHC complexes on the surface ofAPC find and select clones of T cells that are specific to that antigen, since neither the ligand nor the TCR are free to diffuse in solution? Also, the amount of peptide/MHC complex and the frequency of antigen-specificTcell clones both may be small. Nonetheless, it is evident that antigens on dendritic cells are capable of selecting specificTlymphocytes from a pool of lymphocytes in culture. For example, on the first day of a primary MLR, most of the antigen-specific T cells have formed clusters with dendritic cells (5, 6). The clustered lymphocytes then proliferate and release lymphokines. The specificity of the dendriticT cell binding is evident by the facts that (a) the nonclustered population is selectively depleted of antigen-reactive T cells; and (b) th